1. Background Field
Embodiments of the subject matter described herein are related generally to a user interface for a computing system, and more particularly to force detection in a user interface for a computing system.
2. Relevant Background
Touch screen displays have become ubiquitous in current mobile platform applications, such as smart phones. Touch screen displays eliminate the need for key pads. In one adaptation, touch screen displays are used, not only as a replacement of key pads, but as a user interface that detects user gestures on the touch screen and translates the gestures into desired commands to be performed.
Touch screen displays are, conventionally, an LCD (liquid crystal display) technology, or an LPD (light emitting polymer display) technology. The screens are overlaid with a touch sensor, which use touch sensing technology such as capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, to determine one or more points of contact with the touch screen. The touch sensing technologies, however, receive information in two-dimensions in the plane of the display. Some touch sensing technologies, such as capacitive sensors, may detect how close an object is to the touch screen display 12, but ultimately determines the object to be in contact when the detected parameter, e.g., capacitance, is within a specified threshold. Thus, such touch sensing technology is really detecting only two-dimensional information, i.e., whether the object is close enough to be considered contact and if so, the two-dimensional position of that contact. Thus, conventional capacitive touchscreens and user interfaces respond only to touch, not force.
Thus, conventional touch screen displays function as a two-dimensional user interface, thereby limiting the user's interfacing opportunities and the devices response thereto.